F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

General | Hackensack (1896 – 1940)

 Regarded as one of the greatest American Writers of the 20th Century, Fitzgerald was considered the voice of The Lost Generation of the 1920s and wrote about the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He attended Newman Prep School in Hackensack, and Princeton University. After serving in the Army, Fitzgerald launched his writing career, during which he wrote more than 160 magazine articles, numerous short stories, as well as four novels. His most famous work, The Great Gatsby, is often considered the classic example of the American novel. He is still one of the most influential novelists in American literature.

ALTHEA GIBSON

 Sports | East Orange (1927 – 2003)

Born August 25, 1927 in Silver, SC, Althea Gibson grew up in Harlem. A trailblazing athlete, Gibson is often referred to as “Jackie Robinson of tennis.” She won 56 singles and doubles titles during her amateur career in the 1950s before gaining international and national acclaim as a pro. Gibson won 11 major titles in the late 1950s, including singles titles at the French open. In 1957, she was the first African American to be voted by the Associated Press as its Female Athlete of the Year. She won the honor again in 1958. She became New Jersey State Commissioner of Athletics in 1975, a post she held for 10 years. She then served on the State’s Athletics Control Board until 1988 and the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness until 1992. Gibson died at East Orange General Hospital in 2003 at the age of 76.

CARL SAGAN

 Enterprise | Rahway (1934 – 1996)

A 1951 graduate of Rahway High School, Carl Sagan was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” and went on to study astronomy at the University of Chicago and taught at Cornell University. He played a leading role in the American space program since its inception, serving as a consultant and adviser to NASA since the 1950s. For his work, Dr. Sagan received NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award. He also received the Public Welfare Medal, the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences, along with 22 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities. Sagan won a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Dragons of Eden: Speculations of the Evolution of Human Intelligence, and was the author of many bestsellers, including Cosmos, which became an Emmy and Peabody award-winning television series. An exceptional teacher and scientist, Carl Sagan was no doubt one of the best known scientists of the Twentieth Century.

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL

 Sports | Newark (1972)

Born in Newark and spending his youth in the Central Ward, “Shaq” is one of the National Basketball Association’s most famous and formidable players. At 7′ 1″, 325lbs with a 23 shoe size, he is famous for his physical stature. The number one overall draft pick in 1992, O’Neal was named the Rookie of the Year in 1992 – 93 and has gone on to win four NBA championships. He was named the NBA MVP in 2000, has been voted the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player three times, is a two-time NBA Scoring Champion, and a 15-time All-Star. Shaq is heavily involved with law enforcement agencies, has appeared in a number of films and, has released several rap albums, including his platinum debut album.

GUGLIELMO MARCONI

 Enterprise | Wall Twp. | New Brunswick (1874 – 1937)

Born in Italy, this celebrated inventor who won the Nobel Prize for his “contribution to the development of wireless technology” came to New Jersey in 1899 and did much of his pioneering work here in our state. Marconi stands out among some of the greatest pioneers of radio communication who called New Jersey home, including Thomas Edison, Lee De Forest and David Sarnoff. Over a 15-year period, Marconi pursued his experiments in several locations from Highlands to New Brunswick, making Hoboken his American home. He shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun. In 1912, his wireless was renowned for saving those who got into the Titanic lifeboats and made the world realize the value of his wireless system. Finally in 1914, he established a brand of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company in Wall Township, where he built his lab, dormitories and home. It is now the site of the Info Age Science/History Center, which seeks to preserve Marconi’s memory and excite young people about the field of science.